


Dream Eater

by Marasa



Series: Dream Eater [1]
Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Cuddling, Dreams, Fluff, M/M, Sleep, Supernatural Elements, incense, rabbit mask, red eye tyler, red eyes, ruby - Freeform, sleepy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-10-11 21:15:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10474581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marasa/pseuds/Marasa
Summary: “I didn't even really feed. It was just a peek. Passing through,” Tyler said. He wasn't doing well trying to justify the fact he had tapped into their friend’s head while he was sleeping.“Spying, Tyler. The word is spying.”“Whatever."Tyler is a spirit that feeds on the dreams of others and Josh must answer for his friend's bad habits.





	

“Josh! Josh!” Mark’s voice shook Josh’ head while his fist shook the door. Mighty was Mark’s hand but weak was his patience. Josh slipped out of bed in a haze of exhaustion and melatonin and made his way to the door, pushing past the scent of stale cigarettes, sweat and alcohol. The odor twisted in his stomach sourly and seemed to lay flat on his tongue, Josh abstaining from swallowing to avoid the pain caused by a sore throat and the taste of cheap booze. Josh opened the door, clad in nothing but green plaid boxers, hair a mess and the ghost of facial hair poking through soft skin. 

“Mm?” Josh tried his best to wake up, but his eyes didn’t align with his desire to wake. Mark’s irritated gaze fell on half lidded eyes, sticky and bloodshot from the night before. 

“Listen,” Mark spat, making it a point to sound extra threatening when wearing nothing but pajama pants with little elephants printed on them. “You tell your ‘friend’ to stay the fuck out of my head when I’m asleep. Do you understand me?” 

Josh’s eyes flew open at the mention of his ‘friend’ and he was awake, the sudden transition causing a sickening wave of confusion to wreck his throbbing head. 

“How- What do you mean?” Josh spoke through a film of tar and sleep, all the while rubbing at his aching head. He was beginning to regret his night of carelessness. Mark rolled his eyes with vigor and Josh felt empathetic pain from the action. He almost squeezed his eyes shut but instead remained focused on his pissed roommate. 

“Tell him to leave me alone.” Mark hissed before turning and returning to his room down the hall, but not without first slamming the door, of course. 

Josh sighed heavily before shutting his own door and stumbling back to bed. He fell front first into the pile of sheets and pillows rank with sleep sweat and stale alcohol. 

He had always made it a point to make his bedroom as comfortable and welcoming as possible. There was a hookah resting in the corner of his room, at least two ashtrays hidden amongst the clutter of any surface, a box of cigars procured from a business deal and a box of lighters hidden in his underwear drawer. The habit had lured him, he being a person of idle and unsure hands, and the scent had kept him. 

Incense always seemed to burn in the room, the smell lulling him to sleep and cleansing the air of any unwanted scents originating from his other roommates down the hall. Dark colors painted the walls and further soothed his naturally frazzled spirit. What he hadn’t anticipated was that a certain ‘spirit’ also enjoyed his common interests. 

Josh turned his head toward the door and met none other than the troublemaker himself, the one who was cause of him having to be waken up so cruelly. “I know you heard all that, jackass,” Josh mumbled half into the pillow. Tyler stood at the foot of the bed, lanky and tall, all limbs and dark hair, not acknowledging that he in fact had heard the brief exchange.

Loose fitting shirt and baggy sweatpants that were both Josh’s, Tyler looked like a normal guy. Well, except the cheap rabbit mask he was currently wearing. The thin plastic shone with blunt light coming through a gap of the closed curtains, almost making it transparent. Josh was almost convinced he could see the glimmer of red from the narrow eye holes cut into it. Josh had bought it for him for Halloween a year previous, half out of celebration for the holiday, half out of kindness. Tyler had taken to it with frightening adoration. 

“You know I hate when you wear that thing, right?” Josh stated lazily, too tired to actually have the fight with him. 

“Why, exactly?” Tyler asked, genuinely curious and proper. The sound of his voice dissipated any and all annoyance Josh had felt earlier in one second. It was gentle yet definitive, like the subtle throbbing of a subwoofer heartbeat. Calculated yet flowing like a ray of radiation that moved through space and to satellites from Earth. Josh was more than half asleep, now going a bold 75% of unconsciousness, but he tried his hardest to make his point and to be unaffected from the spirit’s tone of voice. 

“It’s weird. You only wear masks during Halloween, Tyler. Or if you're robbing a bank,” Josh explained as though he was speaking to a child. Maybe he was in a way, with Tyler being curious and misunderstanding of the human realm. “It’s May, and you don’t strike me as the type to partake in the latter,” Josh slurred, the sentences already slipping his memory as soon as he spoke them.

“You can’t see my eyes,” Tyler stated simply, standing frighteningly still in the middle of Josh’s room. The other was too exhausted to fully be frightened by the others stance. 

“Yes,” Josh said. 

“And you don’t like that,” Tyler concluded. Josh frowned inwardly at the fact that he had been found out; he had been caught in his strange fascination and now he was left to answer for it. Josh enjoyed Tyler’s eyes. They were strange and Josh tended to have a peculiar taste for the strange. He, however, did not like being called out on it. Josh liked to think of himself as subtle as opposed to clearly enamored. 

Josh groaned loudly and turned his head into his pillow, smelling of body odor and dried drool. “Please let me sleep,” Josh pleaded. Tyler gave a light giggle, the sound ringing out like prayer bells in a Buddhist monastery, completely holy and deserving to be worshipped. 

“You gotta be tired, huh? Especially if you were poking around in Mark’s head all night,” Josh said, having turned his head again to be heard clearly. Tyler shifted on his feet and looked around the room. 

“Slightly...yes.”

“Then, c’mon,” Josh said, shifting ever so slightly to his right. 

Tyler shed himself of his beloved rabbit mask, handling it with the utmost care as he placed it on the bedside table. Josh made sure to stay attentive in order to fully see the other’s red irises now that there wasn't a film of plastic obscuring them from his sight. To strangers, it would look as if he were wearing contacts, but it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Tyler saw everything, and more. It had been explained to Josh as being a ‘spirit thing’. Josh had ruled the information as a fucking cop out. 

Tyler made his way to the cupboard by the wall, choosing an incense of his liking, Josh already knowing the exact scent he picked as soon as he picked up a lighter. The scent of Nag Champa wafted through the room and Josh gave himself completely to the enemy he had been battling for the past five minutes. A dip in the bed made him shift subconsciously closer to the other, Tyler doing him the favor of placing his forehead on the other’s shoulder for unadmittedly both of their comforts. 

“I did find something kinda weird...in Mark’s dream, I mean,” Tyler whispered. Josh hummed and shifted a little closer. “Later...” he could barely move his lips to accompany the words and Tyler agreed silently by scooting closer and nestling his head a little firmer in Josh’ shoulder.

|-/

Josh woke with a start, a nasty habit of his that caused hell for whoever was sleeping beside or on him. It was like a shock had run through the length of his body and he was suddenly awake. His mother had blamed it on the amount of stress he always carried with him. Josh quickly turned his head to his left, remembering the mischievous spirit that had so tiredly crawled in his bed before passing out.

Josh met the red eyes of the other as Tyler squinted in exhaustion and at the increased brightness of the room. Tyler gave Josh an equally confused and irritated look at being woken up in such a manner and Josh silently apologized by pulling a blanket over the other. 

“What time is it?” Tyler groaned tiredly. Josh checked his bedside clock, having to leave those haunting eyes to check the exact point in time. 

“11:49.”

“Ugh,” the other huffed. Josh sat half upright, resting on his elbows awkwardly. He battled internally for a brief moment whether to actually get up before voting to lay back down.

He slid down with ease, head turned to face Tyler. They laid silently for a few minutes, just staring at each other, observing and dissecting the other with fluid inconsistency. Red studied brown and vice versa like they had never seen each other before. Tyler had that effect on Josh and Josh would never admit that he loved it. This wasn't what Josh expected when he had accidentally summoned the spirit, this whole laying in bed and slipping into each other’s eyes. It was gross. It was comfortable.

They stared for more than a few minutes and would shut their eyes when a wave of melatonin would hit them, always riding them out or nodding off slightly but never fully. Then their eyes would open again and they'd be staring at each other some more, no words, just faint breath and the lingering scent of incense between them.

Tyler shifted slightly, the movement not only moving the bed but what seemed to be the whole atmosphere. Josh ran a hand over his face, pushing into his eyes until he saw white spots against the back of his eyelids, groaning in pleasure at the action. Josh looked back to Tyler, just as he had left him, just watching. With a sigh, Josh broke the silence. “You’re in trouble.”

Tyler seemed unaffected by his predicament and continued barely dozing without a care. “I’m serious, Tyler. It’s shitty to just, butt into people’s heads like that,” Josh said, still turned toward the the other with his eyes still studying the hue of red of Tyler’s own.

The supernatural being shrugged. “I know.” Josh was at a loss of what else to say. Tyler knew it was wrong and the deed had already been done. So what use was it lecturing him when Tyler knew what he was going to say? 

“So, what did you find?” Josh said quietly, afraid of his words leaking from the locked door and into the other’s rooms. He knew that was highly unlikely but he just wanted to make sure. Tyler lifted one eyebrow.

“But you said it’s wrong,” Tyler mumbled dramatically, big red eyes looking at him; this was Tyler playing stupid.

Josh rolled his eyes. “What’s done is done, right? Why not count your money after the heist?” Josh asked. Tyler looked down at a stray string on the blanket over him. 

“I didn't even really feed. It was just a peek. Passing through,” Tyler said. He wasn't doing well trying to justify the fact he had tapped into their friend’s head while he was sleeping.

“Spying, Tyler. The word is spying.”

“Whatever.” 

It was silent, Tyler playing with the string with slender fingers while Josh laid there watching his pointless actions like they mattered. “So, what?” Josh asked, his patience finally dissipating. Tyler looked up. “What was in Mark’s head?” 

Tyler sighed. “Nothing I haven’t seen before,” he said as he wrapped the stray string around his index finger. Josh laid attentive. “He didn’t see me at first. It was like this elementary school soccer field. He was sitting on the bleachers and watching planes go by.” Josh touched Tyler’s purpling fingertip. He wanted to make an E.T. joke but he knew it would be lost on Tyler.

“And that’s it?” Josh said. “Then what's the big deal?” Josh couldn’t understand why Mark would be so upset about that fact. He had the right to be a little annoyed, sure, but not mad enough to wake him up and basically threaten him and Tyler. 

“And he was crying," Tyler added, returning to the string. Oh.

“What do you think it was all about?” Josh asked. Tyler remained steadfast in cutting off the circulation to his fingertip, acting as though he hadn't heard the question. Josh sighed, knowing full well Tyler wasn’t going to tell. Tyler was close with everyone in the household and had respect for all of them when it came to intimate information, especially since he had seemingly endless information about all of them and access into their dreams. 

“Mark’s pissed,” Josh said. Tyler didn't look at him. “You gonna have breakfast with us, or show up later?” Josh asked as he sat up, shaking himself of any remaining grogginess. Tyler sat up with him, leaning against the headboard of the bed. 

“I think it would be wise if I stayed out of sight for a little while,” Tyler said, watching as Josh slipped on a pair of jeans that were on the floor.

“Hiding?” Josh smiled. Tyler swallowed a mouthful of newfound guilt and mild fear. 

“Just letting him….calm down,” Tyler said. 

Josh nodded and slipped on a shirt. “Tyler, I hope you now know to never do that again without permission. Especially with Mark," Josh said, unlocking the door. Tyler nodded, chewing nervously on his thumbnail and Josh turned to leave out the door and to the kitchen.

|-/

Josh drug his feet through the narrow hall and toward the kitchen. He passed three doors on the way, one being Mark’s, which always smelt of hard liquor, one being Hayley’s, which was as mysterious as the girl who resided within and the final being the bathroom, which was a toss up in itself. Some days it looked mildly acceptable while other times it looked like a serious biohazard. A drug deal gone wrong had resulted in the room being drenched in Michael's blood while another time, after housing an old friend who had been newly homeless, it had been covered in scum.

Josh’s bare feet sunk slightly into the carpet of the hall and he winced in disgust as he felt small clumps of dirt or toenails press against the bottoms of his feet. It repulsed him, but he wasn’t repulsed enough to actually clean the house. He sighed inwardly as his feet hit the linoleum of the kitchen, smiling at the others in greeting before tearing the look off his face as soon as he met the gaze of Mark.

Mark may have been roughly the same build as him, maybe a little less muscle, but he was intimidating nonetheless. The others seemed to pick up on the unrest between them and resorted to either reading the paper or talking amongst themselves. “Did you tell Tyler, or should I?” Mark growled to Josh, who was pouring himself a cup of coffee. Josh looked up with blunt irritation. 

“Yes,” Josh annunciated the word as clearly and slowly as possible. “I told him. Now let me drink my fucking coffee.” With that, Mark huffed and left to his room, Josh rolling his eyes at the other’s sensitivity. 

“What happened?” Hayley asked. Josh stirred his coffee faster due to his growing annoyance. Jordan shot a frightened look to her inquiry from across the small breakfast table, desperate to keep fighting to a minimum. 

“Mark fucking overreacting,” Josh spat as he made his way over to the breakfast table, sitting beside Michael who had put down his newspaper in exchange of fully hearing the current situation. “Basically, Tyler slipped into his dream last night and now he’s all pissed,” Josh took an agitated swig of his coffee and looked at the others for any kind of support.

“Slipped in?” Michael asked, his tone subtly accusing. Josh swallowed. Always Michael to call him out on his shit. Michael was fatherly, being the oldest of them by a few years and offered insight and advice. As a father would, however, he also spoke honestly and wasn’t afraid put his boot up anyone of his friends’ asses in order to keep them in line. Josh’s use of words hadn’t been lost on the other and now he had to answer for Tyler’s actions. Tyler owed him big time. 

“I don’t know,” Josh mumbled, trying to hide his lack of support by acting ignorant. “Tyler was probably low on energy or something,” Josh said. Jordan looked down in sympathy, cringing at the awkwardness of the conversation and his brother's lack of substantial defense. Josh, being ever so sensitive to the emotions of the group, fed off of Jordan's anxiety and began to get himself worked up. His hands were now clammy and his ears felt hot. 

“Low on energy?” Michael asked. “If that was the case, why didn’t he just ‘slip’ into your head?” 

Josh placed his cup down and ran a hand through his hair. “I-I don’t know,” Josh said. Shit. He was floundering. “Why don’t you ask him?” 

Josh immediately regretted his suggestion. The others just stared at him before shifting their gaze in unison behind him. Josh melted immediately under the touch of a gentle hand on his shoulder, the touch warm and familiar and comforting. Nothing mattered all of a sudden. There was just warmth that came with the knowledge that Tyler was now there beside him. Josh wanted to see those eyes, those deep red eyes and just lay on the couch forever with his friend. 

“Nice of you to join us. You almost missed breakfast,” Hayley smirked to the spirit standing behind Josh. 

“Bastard,” Josh whispered almost inaudibly under his breath, hoping Tyler would hear him. Tyler squeezed the yellow haired man's shoulder in apology and sat to his left. 

Josh sighed out loud and looked at Tyler with both gratitude and mild annoyance. “You can explain yourself now,” Josh said, “so I don't have to.”

Tyler smiled at him and Josh felt all previous anxiety and frustration leave him. Tyler was Josh’s security, his comfort, his balance. Tyler's presence mellowed Josh out like a hit off a blunt and it took everything in Josh’s ability to not just lean on Tyler right now and enjoy the high that was the other’s presence.

"I apologize,” Tyler spoke softly. "I made a poor decision last night. I won't do it again." 

The whole table just stared at him before shifting their eyes to Michael, the one who would ultimately decide Tyler’s punishment as leader of their little friend group. Michael looked at Tyler before glancing at Josh, then back.

"If you need energy, or need to sleep, or anything, Josh is here," Michael said. "Or talk to us. That was the deal." 

Tyler nodded. "I understand.”

And that was that. Everyone moved on to their own conversations over their cereal and glasses of orange juice. Tyler’s hand was on Josh’s thigh, a grounding gesture and silent apology.

“You gotta go apologize to Mark,” Josh said. The others at the table were still talking and unaware of whatever the two closest in the house were talking about. Tyler turned to look at his friend.

“Yeah,” he said, “I'll do it a little later. I don't want to make him more upset.” 

Tyler stared at Josh and Josh stared at Tyler. Red, red, red; the color of ruby. No. Better than ruby. More. It was warm. More than warm. It was fire. Josh leaned in and rested his forehead on Tyler’s shoulder like the other had done hours prior back in bed. Tyler squeezed his thigh lightly, out of sight of their other friends.

“Can we go back to sleep?” Josh whispered against the fabric of his own shirt that Tyler was wearing. It smelt like Tyler now, it was Tyler’s. If Tyler wanted anything of his, Josh wouldn't protest. He'd give it to him. The thought scared him. It comforted him. Tyler would do the same for Josh.

“Yeah,” Tyler said.

“And you can hang out in my head?” Josh suggested a little shyly and Tyler smiled.

“Yeah, of course.”

They both shared a glass of orange juice before heading back to Josh’s room, incense clinging to everything. Josh laid down first and Tyler stalled by the bedside table, looking at his mask and obviously battling with whether or not to put it on. 

“No mask,” Josh said and Tyler nodded with another smile.

Tyler slid in next to him, facing Josh and staring, staring, staring. Carefully, Tyler placed a hand on Josh’s cheek and rubbed his thumb over the sandpaper that was his stubble. Josh smiled.

It was noon but who gave a fuck. They'd share a dream of comforting flames and a collection the deepest red rubies the world had ever seen. This was all they needed, incense and warmth and each other, always only each other. They could apologize to Mark later. 

Now, sleep.


End file.
